The Punk Singer (Sini Anderson, 2013, USA)

The Punk Singer is a 2013 documentary focusing on the life and career of Kathleen Hanna, musician and founder of the riot grrrl movement. The film traces Hanna’s origins in the Washington-state-based punk band Bikini Kill (contemporaries of the grunge movement and Nirvana in particular), to her introspective solo project The Julie Ruin, to her mainstream breakout success with the electropunk trio Le Tigre. The film also addresses Hanna’s hiatus from her career following her diagnosis with Lyme disease and the personal challenges she faced in dealing with this disease.

The film uses plenty of videos of Bikini Kill and other performances to set the atmosphere of the late 80s / early 90s punk environment. This also establishes Hanna’s stage presence and manner in a heavily male-dominated space. From her unconventional “Valley Girl” accent to her often provocative stage presence, Hanna stood out at the time. The film integrates interviews with other members of the riot grrrl movement to show how the movement grew. It also draws relationships between Bikini Kill and other major artists at the time, including Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Perhaps the most unusual connection is with the Beastie Boys, as Hanna ended up marrying Adam Horovitz from the Beastie Boys.

Director Sini Anderson does a solid job of mixing the chaos and energy of Hanna’s early punk years with the more solemn and quiet life of physical recovery at what seems to be Hanna’s tranquil home in a wooded area. The film’s talking heads are exclusively women, reportedly at the behest of Hanna, but this makes a lot of sense given the film’s subject matter and the movement’s “girls to the front” ethos. The Punk Singer is likely to be interesting for any music fans, as well as those interested in the history of the feminist movement.

6/10